Customer Reviews

Mel Bay Complete Sor Studies for Guitar

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fernando Sor was a prolific composer for the classical guitar in the 18th century. His popularity led him to compose a large body of instructional etudes and studies. As opposed to other composers of his time that also produced instructional material, Sor wrote first for musicality, second for instruction -- these pieces are therefore very approachable for the beginning guiarist, yet stand on their own musically.

Because these pieces are musically interesting, several CD compilations containing the various Opuses in this book are available from online merchants; search for Fernando Sor and you are sure to find them with a bit of effort. For me at least, it is very valuable to be able to hear what a work sounds like before I sit down and try to learn it.

Fingerings follow those recommended by Sor with some adjustments. In some cases, I have found need to alter the recommendations but overall the annotations are well-placed and very helpful.

One of the best features of this compilation is that the book is spiral bound, it lays nice and flat on a music stand without need for clips to hold the pages down -- I wish all music books were published this way, it is so much easier to work with.

I've been playing from this exact book for several years and it has brought me countless hours of enjoyment. For a few years, it (along with Giuliani's Exercises) comprised the bulk of my classical music training under the supervision of a teacher.

Every time I open this book I get another rush of appreciation for Fernando Sor, and another glimpse of his brilliance. The man knew what he was doing. These "studies" do a wonderful job of developing competent classical guitar playing, but he also was a genius composer. These tunes are beautiful and many worth playing in recitals.

No. 4 is a great study. The guitarist has to play in the key of C minor which has 3 flats to keep up with, plus the rhythmic challenge is superb. Again, Sor clearly knew what he was trying to accomplish with this piece. I love playing this piece myself just to keep my counting and flat-reading in condition. I don't necessarily think that this book progresses consistently from easy to more difficult pieces (imho), as some easier pieces come after some some rather difficult pieces. But nonetheless, this book is a treasure trove of delightful and very technically helpful, pieces. I teach classical guitar and will suggest this book to my students.

All pieces are printed VERY clearly on quality paper, and are extremely well notated giving very good fingering suggestions. There is NO TAB so you will have to be able to read standard notation. The book is spiral bound so it easily stays open on the music stand - really love that!

I use this book mainly to practice my sight-reading skills, but have found some jewels that I will commit to memory because they are so beautiful. I am very pleased with this book.

Grimes has complied an excellent and usable resource for classical guitarists. As a true teacher of guitar, Grimes, divides his book into practical and progressive sections from beginner to advanced. Grimes also uses his book in conjunction with Pujol's Guitar School to hone a student's understanding of theory and technique.

This Sor study book is great. Unlike other study books that concentrate on repeats of specific techniques, the study book incorporates studies that are melodic and classical and entertaining. It is a refreshing 'other' way to develop guitar skills. For the pure technical aspects that do not necessarily incorporate song style melodies, I also have Carcassi's complete methods for the guitar. It's good that I purchased them both together as I like to alternate between them during my practise sessions.

I purchased this book when I started to casually learn the guitar. I play the viola, so I have a basic knowledge of how string instruments work, which certainly helped me when navigating through these studies.

I worked a little out of a mel bay book to learn the basic fingerings in first position and all that stuff, then i started working out of this book and found it really fun and useful.

One thing I love about this book is that from the very first etude, you are playing real, beautiful music. No boring studies or "hot cross buns" type pieces that are frequently found in beginning books. The studies are ordered from easiest to hardest, so each piece added a little more challenge than the last. I haven't worked through the whole book yet (which would take years to master), but I've made my way through the first several pieces w/ relative ease. I was surprised that I could actually play some of these pieces so easily! I think that the way they are ordered makes it really easy to make small technical improvements. Next thing you know, you're actually playing beautiful classical guitar pieces, and it doesn't seem daunting at all!

The book gives fingering numbers for the left hand, which helped w/ shifting and knowing what position to be in. The only thing that was harder for me was that there are no right hand fingering numbers (although with a little common sense and basic knowledge of right hand principles, you can do pretty well without much assistance). Luckily for me, my dad is a classical guitarist, so I had a (mostly) willing helper at my disposal.

Because of the progressive sequencing of these pieces and the fact that they have a high degree of musical merit, these pieces are a real joy to learn and practice. If you've never touched a guitar before, you should start in a more basic book (Mel Bay books are good). Once you've got a basic understand of how the guitar is played, this book is a great place to explore and increase your technique and have fun in the process!

This compilation is organized by Opus and provides a complete set of the Sor studies. It is easy to navigate if you are familiar with the organization of these works or read Grimes' brief introduction. The spiral binding is a huge asset missing in so many music books. It sits on the stand open to any page obligingly, and turning pages is easy! That practicality, alone, makes the Mel Bay series a cut above most of the others.

There's not too much one can say about this. As every classical guitarist knows, Sor was one of the greatest composers of music for the guitar. Even his simple etudes (the ones I can actually play) are both fun and interesting to play as well as for others to listen to, and each one contains valuable, practical, guitaristic challenges for the aspiring beginner.

My only complaint about this book and it is a serious one, is that it should have spiral binding. I'll probably go somewhere and have it done as it absolutely won't stay open unless other books hold down the edges of the pages.

So, it's 5 stars for Sor, 2 stars for the lack of spiral binding, and I guess that makes 4 stars.

book highly recommended for anyone considering this guitar, contains all the studies of the great Spanish guitarist and composer, Fernando Sor.

Great! David Grimes has put together a much more intense compilation of Sor's studies than Segovia's Twenty Studies. At a good price too.

If you are a beginner or intermediate classical guitar player, then you should have this book. Lots of really great sounding pieces or varying difficulty. I would have liked to see it spiral bound and it wasn't so we had a local binder to that. Didn't cost much and it greatly improves laying it flat.

Gary Watson
Corvallis, OR